News Roundup 30 August 2021
Aug 30, 2021 • 5 min Read
Philippines logs new record-high 22,366 COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines on Monday reported 22,366 more coronavirus cases, its new record-high number of infections since the start of the pandemic. Today’s numbers pushed the country’s total to 1,976,202. Active cases were also up by 5,373 from the 143,221 on August 29. The Department of Health said two laboratories did not submit test results.
- Active cases: 148,594 or 7.5% of the total
- Recoveries: 16,864, bringing the number to 1,794,278
- Deaths: 222, or now 33,330 in total
ICC: Victims ‘overwhelmingly support’ investigation into Philippine ‘drug war’ | PHILSTAR.COM – An “overwhelming” number of victims back the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor’s request for a full investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte and his men’s “war on drugs,” an initial report by the ICC Registry said. The ICC Registry’s Victims Participation and Reparations Section (VPRS), in its public redacted report dated August 27, said it found that “victims overwhelmingly support an investigation by the ICC prosecutor into all crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the context of the so called [‘war on drugs’] in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 17 March 2019.” The ICC Registry a “neutral organ of the Court” that provides services to other organs of the ICC. Its services include support for victims to participate in proceedings and apply for reparations. The VPRS said it received a total of 212 representations, but following legal assessment, it transmitted 204 victim representations to the Pre-Trial Chamber, which is deciding whether it would grant the request of the OTP to launch a full investigation into the Philippines. The 204 victim representations were on behalf of 1,503 individual victims and 1,050 families. Of these, four were assessed as individuals and 200 as collective. “They also bring forward the victims’ views and concerns on the OTP request and on other related matters, including justice, the ICC, the potential scope of an investigation and the impact of the so-called ‘War on Drugs’ has on victims’ lives and their society,” the ICC said. The 30-page public redacted report showed that 94% of victims want an investigation by the ICC Prosecutor, while three percent were unclear, three said no.
Robredo: PH not testing enough, many ‘unaware’ they are virus carriers | INQUIRER.NET – There are many individuals roaming outdoors who are unaware that they are already COVID-19 positive because the country is not testing enough, Vice President Leni Robredo said Monday. Robredo made the remark in reaction to the 22,366 new COVID-19 cases in the country—the highest single day record for the Philippines since the start of the pandemic. “Staggering numbers today — 22,366 new cases!! With a positivity rate of 27.5% and 65,237 tests conducted, we can safely presume that the real number of new cases is so much more than these,” Robredo said in a statement. “Kahit para na tayong sirang plaka, uulitin pa din natin — we are simply not testing enough!!! Gustong sabihin, ang daming gumagala na COVID positives na hindi nga nila alam na infected na pala sila. Pag hindi nila alam, lalong dadami lang ang mahahawaan pa nila,” she added. (Even though we sound like a broken record, we would still reiterate–we are simply not testing enough!!! Wanted to say, a lot of people roaming around not knowing they are already COVID positive, they are already infected. If they do not know, a lot more will get infected.) Robredo said the national government has a “weak” contact tracing mechanism, thus, making it difficult to know who should be tested. “Hindi natin ma identify index cases kaya hindi din natin mahinto ‘yung transmission chains,” Robredo said. (We can’t identify the index cases that is why we can’t stop the transmission chains.) Robredo lamented the struggle of getting a hospital bed for COVID-19 cases, saying that the waitlist at the One Hospital Command Center is already long. “Ang instructions, kung emergency na, dumirecho na sa [emergency room] ng pinakamalapit na ospital. Ang problema, pati ER ng mga ospital, napakahaba na ng linya,” Robredo said. (The instruction is, if it is emergency, go directly to the emergency room of the nearest hospital. The problem is, even the ER of the hospitals has long queue.) Robredo cited an experience of a COVID-19 patient who had an oxygen level of below 70 and had to be rejected by various hospitals due to lack of capacity. The patient was only accommodated by a hospital at 8 a.m. on Monday, the Vice President said. “Buti umabot. Pero ilan pa ba ang tulad nila? Kung hindi natin aayusin trabaho natin, ilang buhay pa yung mawawala?” Robredo said. (Fortunately the patient got in. But how many could be like that person? If we can’t do better with our job, how many lives will be lost?)
Drilon suspects ‘cover-up’ of anomalies in transfer of COVID-19 funds to DBM-PS | Manila Bulletin – Senate Minority Leader Franklin maintained on Monday, August 30, that former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao is “covering up” for people involved in the alleged corruption of COVID-19 response funds transferred from the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Budget and Management’s Procurement Service (DBM-PS). “We see a pattern of corruption that was perpetrated by Lao and his cohorts. It cannot be done by Lao alone. Kaya mayroon siyang pinagtatakpan at iyon ang dapat nating alamin kung sino (That’s why I think he is covering up for people and that’s what we should find out),” Drilon said in a statement Monday. Senators had questioned the DBM-PS’ award of over P8 billion of deals to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation for the purchase of PPEs last year, despite the lack of track record and non-existent addresses of its officials. Lao, who headed the DBM-PS before resigning in June this year, admitted that he failed to exercise due diligence in checking the background of the firm. This admission prompted senators to question his qualifications in heading the DBM-PS. Drilon had surmised the Lao had an “influential backer” who allowed him head the government agency. In a separate interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo, Drilon also suspected that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is also attempting to cover up supposed irregularities in his agency’s transfer of coronavirus response funds. The Senate’s chief fiscalizer said he cannot accept Duque’s explanation that the DOH cannot handle the purchase of the P42-billion COVID-19 response supplies. He reiterated that the DOH and its officials have the expertise in procuring the necessary health supplies and equipment, and should not have passed the job to the DBM-PS.
